Does Society Hate Children?

[Noamuth]

There are a lot of teenagers who do all the stupid stuff that current affair shows love to show every chance they get, but I'm sick of -all- teens being grouped as a troubled age who are out to smash yer cars and stab the elderly.

tl;dr - Another young person sick of the teenage stereotype.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

There are a lot of teenagers who do all the stupid stuff that current affair shows love to show every chance they get, but I'm sick of -all- teens being grouped as a troubled age who are out to smash yer cars and stab the elderly.

tl;dr - Another young person sick of the teenage stereotype.

Eh, The ones that smash cars are attention whores. The world loves attention whores.

 

[Noamuth]

There are a lot of teenagers who do all the stupid stuff that current affair shows love to show every chance they get, but I'm sick of -all- teens being grouped as a troubled age who are out to smash yer cars and stab the elderly.

tl;dr - Another young person sick of the teenage stereotype.

Eh, The ones that smash cars are attention whores. The world loves attention whores.

True that. Ugh. >.<

 

[magnetite]

The trouble is now (at least in the UK) that children are in the minority. More elderly folks around than they, and at least as many middle-aged people. We (the middle-aged - I'm forty soon, damn it) know this and so do they (children and teenagers), quite possibly at a deep subconscious or collective-conscious level. They feel threatened by this fact and act up, we feel threatened by their actions and react. Usually over-zealously, seeing as all the law-makers and law-keepers are in the over 18 group and most are in their late forties to early fifties and marching toward their autumn years. Even this does not make you (the young) unique, however. At 15 I thought I was a special and unique representative of a bright new future. We all do. Until we get older and find out that we are not, and that the future is no longer ours and the next generation is snapping at our heels for what we have. The only difference to my youth is the numbers, but even when I was 12 they were closing schools for lack of pupils, so it must have been a gradual decline. Sadly I don't have any answers to this except - get past 18, find someone to love, have some kids, save the human race. It's in your hands now. At least for the next ten years or so anyway, then it'll be your kid's problem.

 

[soul_rune1984]

I never liked kids, even when I WAS one (most of them any way). Teens can be just as annoying. What I hate most is the whole not disciplining your kid. Example: The other day, I was waiting for a bus and there was this lady with two boys aged around 8-9 and 4-5. The younger boy was whining for a drink and she said he had to wait because the bus would be there soon. His response was "Fuck you mom!" He's 4 and she said nothing. I babysit a 9 year old and he never uses foul language and he gets mad when he hears other kids his age talk like that. But, then again he has a good vigilant mother who won't put up with that crap. He does something bad and he gets grounded.

 

[John Galt]

As a person who would round up most of my peers and send them to work camps, I must confess a bit of a loathing for teens. While there is no mystical number at which a person becomes rational, I know that for the most part, teens couldn't be trusted to function like adults in modern society. I myself still lack some of the tools I'd like to have before living on my own(I don't care how rational you think you are, without a high-school diploma, you won't be able to get anything).Most of the teens I know have trouble functioning in an environment specially designed for teenagers, let alone survive on their own with minimal support.

 

[Souplex]

Societey doesent hate children, the economy hates minors however making it impossible for them to get a non-frycook job.

 

[GothmogII]

Can't remember, but I read an article on child soldiers. Anyway, the gist of it was that putting a child into the situation grew them up faster than if they'd had a 'normal' childhood.

Although there's lots of reasons not to treat a child or teen as a full adult. i.e. lack of training, awareness of social values. Isn't this more to do with the fact that they -are- treated...less, than a full grown adult, instead of maybe...just another person? Granted...a probably in-experienced person, but a person nonetheless?

 

[Isaac Dodgson]

I hate kids...

Theeeen again I hate people, but that's besides the point. When I say I hate kids though, I speak of the typically obnoxious, whiny high pitched squealing, stuck up, snot nosed, annoying as sin bunch and not the level headed open minded educated young adults that also grace my presence.

I'm not perfect and I don't expect them to be either, but when they think they know everything, are on top of the world and that could really handle themselves in the real world when the reality is they don't know a damn thing, rely on their equally moronic parents for everything, and when the pressure is on they cave and crumble into dust, THATS when I get annoyed.

 

[Eiseman]

On top of that, what rights does the law place upon under 18's? Until you leave your home at that age, you are basically "Parent plus one". You need to get someone more 'responsable' to approve everything that you do. You're not allowed to buy what you want, or choose what to do every day. You can't even get a job until you're 16. (unless you pull a few strings..hehe).

However, every single teen I've met seems like a rational human being. Only a tiny minority are 'problem children', and yet the whole is punished for the actions of the few. If people blanketed adults with the same treatment as they do children, there would be outrage.

It seems society view children as a second-class group, incapable of independant thought or responsibility. A group that needs to be controlled.

I think I see what you're trying to get at. You feel that the world thinks of young'uns as legally inferior citizens, under the law. This is not necessarily true from a social point of view, (rather that opinion seems to fluctuate from generation to generation) but the law is a different story; the rights to work, drive, what have you are tightly restricted with established age requirements. Teens may call foul, but there is merit to the madness.

These age requirements are presumably intended as a safeguard to ensure that anyone who tries to take on the responsibility in question has had enough time after hitting adolescence to be properly educated/trained for it (from a legal standpoint, adolescence is the earliest time one would think about granting a citizen additional rights, so age requirements usually start from there). This could very well be the reason that the U.S.'s drinking age is higher than the right to smoke or vote, due to the large threat of alcohol abuse/drunk driving in this country.

Anyway, my point is that the government thinks that withholding these rights from youngsters is for their own good, to keep them from diving into a mess of bad choices. It's all part of this grand scheme to turn us all into goody-goody, law-abiding citizens so a country has less problems to deal with. Were these laws properly enforced, the theory might actually work, but tough nuts on that one.

 

[asmodaus]

The current society, the Baby Boomers, grew up believing they were the pinnacle of humanity and the epicenter of the universe. They see us as a threat to them, since we are the future. They see our change, our new and unique aspects as "wrong", cause they're different. They were born into a set way o life, and cannot really grasp the concept of constant change. Thats why they invented a new silent faceless threat after Communism fell.

Finally, someone who feels the same way about baby boomers as me.

Ironically, it was a baby boomer who actually taught me this.

Yes but this was happening to teens before the baby boom. People are always afraid of what they dont understand, and a direct result of which results in people being misunderstood and feared, and in some cases, oppressed. I'm not going to get on a rant on how the mans keeping me down, but kids(including my fellow teens) and adults need to be seperated into seperate groups. Child labor laws are an example of this. Children in the late 1800s to early 1900s began working in factorys,to help support their families.They didnt get paid nearly what adults were paid and thier underdevoeped bodies couldnt take the stress, and began acculminating health conditions.the result of which was child labor laws and unions.If nature had its way, all humans would begin reproducing at puberty.Luckily,we began to slow down reproduction and started waiting until we were 20+ to start making babies, and society formed around that. Fast forward to today and teens are starting to rebel because their government (and parents) are doing things and making them do things they dont want to do, and we cant do anything but try and get by until society finally accepts us into one of thier own.thern we get caught in that circle once again
/rant

EDIT:sorry for the length

 

[Limos]

I don't hate children, I only hate YOUNG children. I'm okay with teenagers. But anyone under the age of eight deserves only death. Especially if they are currently in a movie theatre or trying to buy an M rated game.


One thing i'd like to add. I've always thought that having two distinct groups with a designated border seems wrong. Before 18 you're a child. After 18 you're an adult. Someone 17 is legally treated the same as someone 7. I think that's wrong.


I think it should start being broken down near the 18 mark.

0-15 Child
16-18 pre adult
18-21 New adult
21-FOREVER Adult

((This would mostly be applied to laws dealing with statuatory rape and content controls. I had a friend in high school who was dating a sophmore who had skipped a grade while he was a junior who had been born at the time when he would be a year older than his classmates. When he turned 18 he had to wait two years before he could see his girlfriend again.))

 

[Noamuth]

I don't hate children, I only hate YOUNG children. I'm okay with teenagers. But anyone under the age of eight deserves only death. Especially if they are currently in a movie theatre or trying to buy an M rated game.

I don't know what is worse: Under-18s trying to buy an 18+ game, or their -parents- arguing with the salesman to sell it to them for their kid, when their 7-year-old is standing behind them.

 

[squiggothhunter]

Can I ask every adult out there to do a favor for me?
Never, ever, effing ever again say snot-nosed kids? please? That particular insult...bothers me because 6 year olds are snotty, everyone else just gets an occasional cold.

On topic, I think teens could be more responsible if we could get jobs earlier. I understand all the child labor laws and why there in place, but at 14 there are plenty of jobs you can handle. And, jobs make everyone more responsible. Or you wouldn't have a job, then starve, die horribly, etc etc.
I'm pretty sure im responsible for a teen(dont do drugs, get good grades, not F*&^ING annoying) and I hate anyone who isn't.
Ive been at a party were the mom wanted to go home and the 10 year old kid said no because she had been drinking. Valid point, but she passed a breathalizer and only a couple beers many hours ago. And the little kid screamed and swore. A lot. And ran off. I had to walk him back Israeli police force style, and had to sit him in the car. Thank god for child locks.

 

[Limos]

Can I ask every adult out there to do a favor for me?
Never, ever, effing ever again say snot-nosed kids? please? That particular insult...bothers me because 6 year olds are snotty, everyone else just gets an occasional cold.

On topic, I think teens could be more responsible if we could get jobs earlier. I understand all the child labor laws and why there in place, but at 14 there are plenty of jobs you can handle. And, jobs make everyone more responsible. Or you wouldn't have a job, then starve, die horribly, etc etc.
I'm pretty sure im responsible for a teen(dont do drugs, get good grades, not F*&^ING annoying) and I hate anyone who isn't.
Ive been at a party were the mom wanted to go home and the 10 year old kid said no because she had been drinking. Valid point, but she passed a breathalizer and only a couple beers many hours ago. And the little kid screamed and swore. A lot. And ran off. I had to walk him back Israeli police force style, and had to sit him in the car. Thank god for child locks.

I think I was a really boring teen. Aparently my school was infested with drug dealers and heroin addicts. But no one ever offered me anything. I feel left out. I mean cmon, do I really look that straight laced?

Then again it took two years to convice people that I wasn't either Gay or a Moromon. For some reason I give off a weird vibe that makes people think i'm trustworthy. I'm not sure why...

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Can't remember, but I read an article on child soldiers. Anyway, the gist of it was that putting a child into the situation grew them up faster than if they'd had a 'normal' childhood.

Although there's lots of reasons not to treat a child or teen as a full adult. i.e. lack of training, awareness of social values. Isn't this more to do with the fact that they -are- treated...less, than a full grown adult, instead of maybe...just another person? Granted...a probably in-experienced person, but a person nonetheless?

Pretty much that. ^

The only thing stopping teenagers from actually being functional members of society is that well. Society babys teenagers.

They don't let teenagers garner experience so when we hit 18 we are still not fully functional because we are still getting the ropes. Earlier hands one experience would be best if monitored. Now i'm not saying that 12 year olds should be able to be their own person, I'm saying they should atleast get some experience so later when their 18 they can go into life with a plan. Instead of holding their dick and wondering what the fuck to do.

 

[tregon75]

Currently, in my city, we don't have enough people to do all the jobs, so most stores are hiring 14 yr olds. Next year, I get to work at Gamestop

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Currently, in my city, we don't have enough people to do all the jobs, so most stores are hiring 14 yr olds. Next year, I get to work at Gamestop

Your lucky, Here in a kinda resort citish place I will most likely have to wait until another store opens before any jobs will be available.

 

[KittywifaMohawk]

Yea pretty much. There is almost nothing for kids under 18 to do nowadays and pisses me off.

 

[squiggothhunter]

Can I ask every adult out there to do a favor for me?
Never, ever, effing ever again say snot-nosed kids? please? That particular insult...bothers me because 6 year olds are snotty, everyone else just gets an occasional cold.

On topic, I think teens could be more responsible if we could get jobs earlier. I understand all the child labor laws and why there in place, but at 14 there are plenty of jobs you can handle. And, jobs make everyone more responsible. Or you wouldn't have a job, then starve, die horribly, etc etc.
I'm pretty sure im responsible for a teen(dont do drugs, get good grades, not F*&^ING annoying) and I hate anyone who isn't.
Ive been at a party were the mom wanted to go home and the 10 year old kid said no because she had been drinking. Valid point, but she passed a breathalizer and only a couple beers many hours ago. And the little kid screamed and swore. A lot. And ran off. I had to walk him back Israeli police force style, and had to sit him in the car. Thank god for child locks.

I think I was a really boring teen. Aparently my school was infested with drug dealers and heroin addicts. But no one ever offered me anything. I feel left out. I mean cmon, do I really look that straight laced?

Then again it took two years to convice people that I wasn't either Gay or a Moromon. For some reason I give off a weird vibe that makes people think i'm trustworthy. I'm not sure why...

Its ok. Everyone seems to think im jewish....